My Cookies Are Bleeeding!!!!

Okay, so I made these sugar cookies (shaped like flowers) yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, I used Antonia74's RI recipe to make white border, then thinned it to fill it in. Then last night, one the white was hardened, I used yellow RI (same recipe) to make the center of the flower...same procedure. Now today, the yellow has bled into the white!!!!!!!! It's faint but it's noticeable.....what do I do???? Why did it do this???? Someone please help me!!!

So, you only allowed the background icing a few hours to dry before you put the other colour on top?

That may be your problem right there. Better to have waited overnight to have been sure that the icing was solid. (You mentioned putting the yellow detail in the centre of the cookies, but a cookie's icing dries from the edges inwards. It wouldn't have been completely dry from the afternoon to the evening. )

Secondly, did the yellow icing come from the first batch of white....or did you make a new batch up?

Bleeding can also occur when two colours are of different consistencies, i.e. one colour from another recipe is thinned with a touch more water than your other batch.

To put it simply, the thinner icing is able to creep/seep into the other colour.

To solve this, make ONE batch of icing and use that for your outline/background. Now tint the required amount you need and use that for any additional detailing. The exact same consistency of icing is much MUCH less likely to bleed.

Thanks Antonia....I think the first thing is the problem. Maybe it wasn't dry all the way like I thought. No I didn't use the thin Icing for the center. I had separated the two into two different bowls...so I don't think it was that.

You got the answer from the pro! Could you do an outline to hide the bleeding once they are completely dry? I've had to do that fix before. I think sometimes I get so anxious for a new creation, I just can't wait for them to dry completely

This is annoying when it happens. I'm impatient and also get worried about leaving cookies sitting around for an extra day, so I always want to get them decorated in one day. I really should learn to 'step away'

I agree with Shiney. Don't try to mask what's done, it's just not going to conceal it.

If you really must do something, why not brush the centres with a little bit of yellow lustre dust or something to cover the bleeding? It will still look realistic without looking as though you're trying to hide a boo-boo.

I find that once a color starts to bleed it gets worse with each day even if it's refrigerated or frozen. I also got a response from Antonia74 when I had this issue...the solution was drying time. I now let my cookies dry for longer and rarely have the bleeding problem anymore. Thanks again Antonia74!!!